Saints team named for Scarlets test

NORTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 09: Jim Mallinder, the Northampton director of rugby looks on during the Northampton Saints training sessiion held at Franklin's Gardens on November 9, 2011 in Northampton, England. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Mallinder believes last week's defeat at Thomond Park will not be easily forgotten

The Northampton Saints team has been named for tomorrow night’s Heineken Cup Round 2 clash against the Scarlets, at Franklins Gardens, (kick-off 8pm).

The Saints go into Round 2 on the back of the last-gasp 23-21 defeat at Thomond Park, and while director of rugby Jim Mallinder acknowledged that memories of the Round 1 loss to Munster won’t go away straight away they will also provide some great motivation for the Saints team tomorrow night.

“Games like last Saturday’s don’t disappear from your mind straight away, but you learn very quickly in this game to move on,” he said. “You have to move on to the next game, which for us is Friday night’s game against the Scarlets.

“The Heineken Cup is a tough competition and we’re in a tough pool. The Scarlets showed with their win over Castres that they deserve to be treated with respect. They’ve got some exciting backs and a dynamic set of forwards who are very competitive at the breakdown and will ask lots of questions of us at the set piece.

“But myself and the other coaches have been very pleased with the reaction of our players in training this week. We know that we have been playing well and everyone has been positive in their attitude towards Friday’s game.”